JOYCE nurtures local design talent with a holistic platform

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Although Hong Kong’s vibrant luxury fashion retail market is a magnet for style aficionados both locally and from abroad, many aspiring home-grown designers find it tough to break into and establish their brands in this fiercely competitive sector.

JOYCE Boutique recognises the challenges facing local young design talent. Hence, the upscale retail brand has started nurturing them by providing a holistic platform and specialist guidance to help them take the vital first step in brand-building. In the 2017 Young Fashion Designer Contest (YDC), JOYCE sponsored the inaugural “New Talent Award” to promote local design talent, in partnership with the contest organiser the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). The winner of this award is Arto Wong, whose innovative knitwear collection titled “Zero to Unlimited” represents her conceptualised artistic interpretation of molecular transformation. The winning designs, which challenge the conventional notion of knitwear, are a symphony of masterfully constructed ultra-lightweight pieces of voluminous silhouettes plumped up by air, accentuated with multiple layering and lavish ruffles. Arto was also named the champion in the contest.  

JOYCE’s Head of Merchandising and the judge for the “New Talent Award”, Michael Mok, thinks Arto’s collection stood out from the other contestants’ works because of her highly wearable design philosophy infused with a distinctive personal identity. “Throughout the several rounds of interviews between the contestants and the judge, Arto’s collection impressed me with her creativity and a personal style distinguished by a strong visual impact. Yet the pieces are easy-to-wear,” he says.

Meanwhile, a singular design theme threaded through the entire collection allows the wearers to easily mix and match all the items forming the series’ different looks. Based on the theme of molecular transformation releasing immense energy, Arto has crafted out of knitwear the lavish patterns and gradated colour splashes. “Her showpieces demonstrated superb workmanship,” Mok adds.

Apart from identifying Arto’s potential, Mok mentored the budding designer by sharing his market insights and practical advice on fashion retail when she was modifying her award-winning designs for commercial production. The fruit of their collaboration is a limited edition capsule collection under the “ARTO.” brand which is now available at  JOYCE  in Pacific Place,  Hong Kong and Shanghai store. This is the first time JOYCE has worked with a single local designer exclusively.